The battle of the strings

        Hello again and welcome back to my final post of my four part music blog series. This final post will be discussing about my personal favourite music family, the strings. Difficult to maintain, yet produce the most vibrant and soothing sounds of all the instruments. When I mean strings, I mean the string instruments that use a bow to play, which are known as the bowed strings. I prefer these instruments and it's family above all other instruments because they can reach the higher notes without difficulty, the note placement is pure memorization, and they only require a bow to play. The higher notes can be reached because depending on which instrument you choose, can reach above the treble clef. The violin could be considered the flute or clarinet of the winds, and the cello is considered the tuba of winds. Since each instrument has four strings, or sometimes five, the higher notes are easier to reach because of finger placement. The notes follow the same pattern as every string on the instrument. There are four main placements for your fingers and the pattern remains the same for each string. The last reason I like the strings family a lot is because the way to play the instrument is by plucking the strings, or by using the bow. Plucking is more common for double bassists in jazz but in orchestras, the bow is used to play. The bow is pulled along a single, or for advanced players, multiple strings to produce the sound. Placing your fingers on the fingerboard works at the same time as the bowing. The history of string instruments in general, is clouded in mystery as most of the records were lost in time. For example, a special recipe created by Antonio Stradivari to make a varnish that affects the sound, was lost.  

Violin

        The violin is recognizable by its curved sides and small size. This is considered to be the most favourite string instrument and is the highest pitched string instrument. The body of the violin is made of mostly different types of wood, such as spruce, maple and ebony. The strings are made of steel wire,but were once made of catgut. Catgut is strings made from the fibres contained in the walls of many animal intestines. Violins are played primarily in orchestras, jazz, folk and country music. The history of the violin has a lot of unknowns, but the first violin-like instruments were being made in the early 1500s in Italy. Andrea Amati is known as the first widespread violin maker. However, her grandson, Antonio Stradivari, has become known as the best violin maker due to its sound quality, and construction.

Cello

        The loud but low pitched sound of the cello has a wide body and is considered to be a bass violin. The cello is one of the few instruments that is regularly played by sitting down. The cello is pitched an entire octave below the viola, which is another string instrument that could be considered the tenor violin. The cello is mostly made of the same materials as the violin, but has a spike attached to the bottom letting it be played sitting down or standing up. The cello is primarily played in orchestras and rock music and began to be built around the fifteenth century. The idea of introducing the cello to the western music and lowering its original pitch is Johannes Ockeghem, who was a bass singer.  

Double Bass

        The low volume of the double bass can only be matched by its size and larger strings. The double bass is largest string instrument in use in orchestras and more commonly, jazz. These giants are made of mostly the same things as a violin, but contains a bottom spike like a cello. The first double basses began to appear in the late fifteenth and early 16th centuries. The bass was originally ignored as a bass, but by the eighteenth century, composers like Ludwig Van Beethoven, and Mozart began writing parts for the bass. In jazz music, the bass often is given a melody part instead of the rhythm part due to the energetic beat of jazz. 

Violin Bow

        The bow of the violin is used for producing the sound by scratching on the strings through rosin. The main component of a bow is the horse hair which grips the strings, playing the note. Rosin is a waxy-like materiel that is smeared across the bow to allow the hairs to grip the strings and vibrate them.

        In conclusion, I like the bowed string instruments and most of all the violin because they can reach the high notes without difficulty and the notes are pure memorization. There are only four main fingering spots including the high notes. Playing these instruments only require pulling the bow across the bridge to produce the sounds. Most of all, they sound great.          

Have a musical day!!!

The world famous dancing violinist Lindsey Stirling playing the Halo theme song.

Works Cited

About the Cello. 2005. The Cello Site. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://www.thecellosite.com/history.html

Bartruff, William. The History of the Violin. 2015. bartruff. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://www.bartruff.com/history/

Buy Stringed Instruments Cello, Violin, Double Bass. 2015.

http://www.ollysguitar.com/instruments-accessories-string-instruments-c-43_159.html

Cello group debuts album, scores game. 1 February 2013. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2013/02/01/cello-group-debuts-album-scores-game/

Double Bass. 5 May 2015. Encyclopaedia Britiannica. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/169851/double-bass

Dunn, Andrew. History of the Cello. 2013. Andrew Dunn, Cellist. Web. 4 June 2015.  

http://www.andrewdunncello.com/essay.html

Estrella, Espie. Profile of the Double Bass. 2015. about education. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://musiced.about.com/od/musicinstruments/p/doublebass.htm

Estrella, Espie. Violin. 2015. about education. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/a/halloween.htm

Slatford, Rodney. History of the Double Bass. 1980. The Double Bass and Violone Internet Archive. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://earlybass.com/articles-bibliographies/history-of-the-double-bass/

Stirling, Lindsey. Halo Theme- Lindsey Stirling and William Joseph. 23 May 2013. Youtube. Web. 4 June 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLnL63cXmD8

P&H Bows Fibreglass Violin Bow Real Hair Blue. 2015. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://mobile.long-mcquade.com/2279

The History of Stradivarius Violins. 2015. Stradivarius. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://www.stradivarius.org/stradivarius-violins

Thompson, Wendy., & Wade-Matthews, Max. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Music. Reading, Hermes House. 

Violin-with-bow.png - Wikimedia Commons. 8 Novermber 2012. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Violin-with-bow.png

The best of the woodwinds

        Hello again to another post of my music blog. Today, I will cover my next favourite instrument and it's category, the harmonica, which belongs to the woodwinds. Played by vibrating a reed, with the exception of a flute, it contains instruments like the clarinet, bassoon, oboe, and saxophone. I myself play a clarinet and can give a player’s perspective about this category. I like woodwind instruments because of their ability to blend the sounds with each other, they provide a nice melody to the band and only buttons are needed to play. The primary role of the saxophone was and still is, to blend the differences between the woodwinds and brass and balance the orchestra for example. The instruments are simple the play due to only pressing buttons to reach different notes. The woodwinds are the melody because they play in the treble clef and the treble clef has higher notes which is the melody.

Tenor Saxophone

Alto Saxophone

        With a signature curving u-shape and a harbour horn sound, the saxophone is known as the most popular and favourite wind instrument. There are many models of the saxophone, ranging from the smallest E flat sopranino saxophone, to the massive contrabass saxophone, the most famous is considered to be the tenor saxophone. The saxophone is made of brass, plastic and cork and is primarily used in jazz and orchestras and military bands. Invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841 and patented in 1846, it was invented because of balancing issues between instrument sections. String instruments couldn’t be heard over the winds and brass overpowered the woodwinds creating an unbalanced and unblended sound between the instruments. The alto saxophone is keyed in E flat, and the tenor saxophone is keyed to B flat, which are the two most common saxophones.

Diatonic Harmonica

Chromatic Harmonica

        The harmonica, also known as the mouth organ, is one of the most interesting and efficient instruments ever produced in my opinion. It is small enough to fit in a pocket, has an overall range of three octaves and can be played by inhaling and exhaling air. The harmonica is the only known wind instrument to be played that way. This instrument is most commonly used in blues, country, rock, and certain symphonies. The first harmonicas were being rolled out in the 1850s by Matthias Höhner, a German clockmaker. The idea of the harmonica originated from an ancient Chinese instrument called the Sheng, which is a hollowed out gourd containing up to 36 air pipes. The harmonica is made of metal in which the cover plates are made of aluminium and the reeds are made of brass. The place where the reeds are held is called the comb and is made of plastic.

Tenor Saxophone Reeds

Harmonica Reeds

        A strange thing about woodwind instruments are that some of them are made of brass or another type of metal. Prime examples are the saxophones and harmonicas. The saxophones are made of brass, yet use a reed to play notes. The harmonica is also made of metal and plastic and the reeds are made of brass. The prerequisites of being a woodwind instrument are that it uses a reed or was made of wood. I therefore believe that the saxophone and harmonica are woodwind instruments.

        In conclusion, I like woodwind instruments because they blend well together, they have great melody, and are easy to play due to having only keys to play. The melody between woodwinds sound great when blended well together because they sound as one. For the keys, woodwinds don't have to change their mouth shape or pinpoint where to place their fingers.

See You Later

A compilation of other woodwinds used in an orchestra. 

Works Cited

Enjoy Music - Play Hohner - Special 20 Classic. 2015. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://www.playhohner.com/instruments/harmonica/diatonic/progressive-series/special-20-classic/

Estrella, Espie. Saxophone History. 2015. Web. 4 June 2015.

http://musiced.about.com/od/lessonsandtips/a/saxhistory.htm

Learn about Saxophone History. 2011. Saxophone Players Guide. Web. 4 June 2015.
http://www.saxophone-players-guide.com/saxophone-history.html

Harmonica Sessions. n.d. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.
http://harmonicasessions.com/?p=234

HighSchoolMusicAus. Woodwind Instruments. 22 May 2011. Youtube. Web. 4 June 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OjqeyOvC1c

MandoHarp - Hohner Chromatic Harmonica. n.d. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.
http://www.mandoharp.com/Harmonicas/091041-HC_Hohner_270_C/index.html

Rico Tenor Sax Reeds #2-3 Pack. 2015. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.
https://www.long-mcquade.com/17406/Band/Woodwind_Reeds/Rico/Tenor_Sax_Reeds_2_-_3_Pack.htm

Saxophone. 30 September 2008. New World Encyclopedia. Web. 4 June 2015.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Saxophone

Saxophones Dawsons Music. 2015. Online Photograph. Web. 4 June 2015.
http://www.dawsons.co.uk/orchestral-instruments/woodwind-instruments/saxophones

The History of The Saxophone. n.d. The-Saxophone.com. Web. 4 June 2015.
http://www.the-saxophone.com/history-of-the-saxophone.html

Best Music Instruments

Brass

 

       
        Welcome back to another post of my music blog. My next favourite instrument is the trombone, which falls under the brass family of instruments. These instruments make up the bass and rhythm of the band and are made of mostly brass. I like these instruments because they are easy to clean, provide the rhythm and they are very simple to play. Brass is likely to be the most efficient instrument in terms of cleaning because of spit valves. Every brass instrument has a valve, which contains condensation or the collected spit and is usually, located farthest from the player. It is emptied regularly to prevent a bubbling sound while playing notes. The lower register instruments provide the beat and bass, and they are simple to play because all that is needed is a cup mouthpiece.

Trumpet

        Trumpets are probably the most recognizable brass instrument with the three buttons or valves, on the top, and have a small-sized bore. Bore is the size of the flare or the  at the end of the instrument.  This instrument was the favourite of soloists during the Jazz age and today, such as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsalis. The trumpets are made from brass and have a cork acting as a cushion for the spit valves and are primarily used in orchestras, military bands and Jazz music. Most trumpets today are played in the key of B flat, which is the note played without depressing any valves. There are two tuning slides on the trumpets which enable the player to raise or lower the pitch of the notes.  

Sousaphone

        The brass instruments provide the rhythm because rhythm is playing the beat. The sousaphone, also known as helicon, is a great example which uses the bass clef, the lower notes under middle C. The sounds of these instruments are hollow and deep like a timpani and are just as bulky. These lower register brass instruments have many pipes for the air to pass through, but they mostly have three valves on the instrument. Interestingly, the sousaphone has four vales on it, which allows the pitch to lower even more. The sousaphone is a type of tuba, which is carried around the body resting on the shoulder with the bell facing forward over the left shoulder and is incredibly heavy. Modern technology has solved this problem by making the bore out of fibreglass. The sousaphone is primarily used in school marching bands, and military bands. It was invented as request from the famous American composer John Phillip Sousa for which it was named after. 

Trombone

   

        The last reason which makes brass a great instrument is the fact that it is easy to play. My favourite instrument, the trombone, only uses a slide to play notes. However, the slide is not the only thing needed to play the instrument. Blowing air is not enough because the air and lips needs to vibrate while being blown so it can produce different notes. The trombone has the sound of horns and when played loud, can drown out other instruments. The trombone was created as an answer for composers in the mid fifteenth century, who wanted to start playing lower notes in their pieces. It evolved from an earlier version called the sackbutt which looked similar but has a small bore. Since the trombone has a slide instead of valves, the operation works differently. There are seven slide positions, each of which could play multiple notes. The size of the bore also changes in certain countries such as France and England, which uses a smaller to medium sized bore, and the U.S and Germany use large bores. 

Overall, my opinion on the trombone is that they don’t require much maintenance, and provide a monotone voice to the band. Most importantly, it is simple to learn since all that is needed is the instrument and its accompanying mouthpiece.

Works Cited

An Interview With Set Designer Emily Pugh. 4 February 2011. Online Photograph. Web. 27 May 2015.
http://lifeandstyle.alexandalexa.com/an-interview-with-set-designer-emily-pugh/

Estrella, Espie. History of the Trumpet. n.d. about education. Web. 27 May 2015. 

http://musiced.about.com/od/lessonsandtips/a/trumpethistory.htm

History and Origin of the Sousaphone. 2007. sousaphone.net. Web. 27 May 2015.

http://www.sousaphone.net/sousaphone-history.htm

Max Wade-Matthews, and Wendy Thompson. The Encyclopedia of Music. Reading, London: Hermes House, 2011. Print.

Monks, Greg. The History of the Trombone From The Sackbutt To The Present. n.d. Web. 27 May 2015.  

http://www.blackdiamondbrass.com/trbhist/tbonehist.htm

Monks, Greg. The History of the Tuba. n.d. Web. 27 May 2015.
http://www.blackdiamondbrass.com/tbahist/tubahist.htm

sousaphone The MyMusicTheory.com Blog. May 2011. Online Photograph. Web. 27 May 2015.
http://blog.mymusictheory.com/2011/the-mymusictheory-guide-to-orchestral-intruments-part-4-–-the-brass/sousaphone/

Trombones-Student Intermediate- Professional models available from KOHN. n.d. Online Photograph. Web. 27 May 2015.
http://www.kohnmusicstore.com/Trombones-student-intermediate-professionalmodels.htm

Trumpet 113mulhaq's Blog. 4 December 2009. Online Photograph. Web. 27 May 2015.
https://113mulhaq.wordpress.com/tag/trumpet/

Best Music Instruments

Percussion

        

        Anybody who has an interest in music knows there are plenty of instruments in the world to play such as the piano, guitar, saxophone, or trumpet to name a few. However, each musician has a certain liking for one instrument over another. In this case, my favourite instruments are, in descending order of least favoured to most favoured are drums, trombone, harmonica, and violin. Drums are great instruments because they act as a secondary conductor of the band, there are many variations of drums, and they sound great on a solo. Drummers keep the beat of the band and can be followed by players who are out of sync. Some people also think drum kits are the only type of percussion instrument available, but that isn't the case. Cymbals, tambourine, and triangle all fall into this category. On their own, drums have an excellent solo role which can play different sounds unique to percussion.

Drum Kit

        The congas are a small but noticeable instrument. These instruments have a distinct, hollow sound, and are primarily used in African music, jazz and salsa styles of music. The congas originated in Africa and were made of wood and rawhide. New technology allows congas to be made of fibreglass and synthetic plastics. Approximately two to five congas are used at a time to create different melodies.  

       

Congas        

        Most people may not consider the cymbals to be a good standalone instrument due to it being able to play only one sound. Most bands however would be incomplete without cymbals. The most common cymbals are crash, ride, and hi-hat. The materials to make cymbals were created in Mesopotamia and are known as bronze, but the first physical cymbals were made in the Ottoman Empire in present-day Turkey. Cymbals are mostly used in drum kits and orchestras for classical music, and in military bands.

       

        Crash Cymbals

        The sound of the kettledrums, or timpani, is instantly recognizable by its hollow, thunderous echo and deep voice of an orchestra and its large size. The timpani usually plays the bass and the rhythm for the orchestra and can have two to six timpanis in the band. The origins of the timpani started as a European military drum made of copper moulded into a bowl, with animal skin stretched overtop of it. In the past, the timpani was larger, but returned to a smaller size because composers didn't like the sound it produced.

       

Timpani

        Overall, by opinion on drums is that they are a very diverse family, with unique sounds and looks. Drums are also the loudest instruments in bands or orchestras, and are considered the second leaders.

See You Later

      

(Best drummer in the world, the late Buddy Rich)

Works Cited

Crash Cymbals Clipart Related Marching Cymbals. n.d. Online Photograph. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://picturequotes.info/images/crash-cymbals-clipart-related-marching-cymbals

DrummaAddict. "BUDDY RICH IMPOSSIBLE DRUM SOLO *HQ*." 17 January 2010. Youtube. Web. 22 May 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9esWG6A6g-k

Estrella, Espie. Profile of the Conga Drum. 2015. about education. Web. 22 May 2015.                                                                                                                                                         

http://musiced.about.com/od/percussions/p/congadrums.htm

History of Conga Drums. n.d. Artdrum. Web. 22 May 2015.      http://www.artdrum.com/HISTORY_OF_CONGA_DRUMS.htm

History of the timpani. 2015. Syncrat. Web. 22 May 2015. 

http://www.syncrat.com/posts/5254/history-of-the-timpani

Hutton, Scott. The History of Cymbals. n.d. articlecity. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/music_and_movies/article_1229.shtml

Matador Custom Wood Congas. n.d. Online Photograph. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://artdrum.com/CONGAS_MATADOR_CUSTOM_CONGA_DRUMS.htm

playing drums today with the all-inclusive FZH725C drum kit from Pearl. n.d. Online Photograph. Web. 21 May 2015.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--PEAFZH725C

Salloum, Trevor. "The Conga Drum in Jazz." Blog.Melbay.com. 6 February 2013. Web. 22  May 2015. 

http://blog.melbay.com/the-conga-drum-in-jazz/

Stylish Musical Notes Pic. 2015. Online Photograph. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://azcoloring.com/coloring-pages-of-music-notes (Image no Longer Exists on Page)

Timpani. 16 July 2013. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/596339/timpani

Yamaha Standard Fiberglass Timpani Set 23, 26, 29, 32 inch w/Cover. n.d. Online Photograph. Web. 22 May 2015.

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